Any Day Now... Hopefully · 11:57pm Mar 1st, 2017
Alright, so it's been another two months, and considering that I said two months ago that I needed another month or two to finish up Scorched Feathers, I kind of owe you all an update. Unfortunately, it's another delay. As far as writing the chapter, I'm about a paragraph or two away from the boss battle part, and I have a bit of a lengthy post-battle section that I've been planning for a while (original content, unlike the entire basis of this crossover, so I'm kind of looking forward to it).
Unfortunately, I was hoping to be up to this part a month ago, so as much as I would like to promise that the chapter will be out in a month or two, the fact that I've blown through the last couple deadlines for this chapter isn't promising. For now, all I can offer you is a small sneak peek at the next chapter:
Rainbow Dash emerged on the other side of the tunnel, which led out of a cave in one of the cliffsides in the area. The City of Souls stretched on, with dozens of spires towering above Rainbow in either direction. A deep fissure tore through the center of the city starting from the entrance to the cave she had exited, and even though she couldn’t see the bottom of the chasm, there were spires rising from the darkness below.
“Keep going, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said. “This chasm should lead you to your destination.”
Rainbow frowned. “What are we doing here anyway?” she asked. “I thought the whole point was to save Fluttershy while she’s still hanging on.”
“It is, and I will explain everything soon, ” Celestia said. “But the longer we take, the smaller her chances are.”
“It may be wise to fly inside the chasm,” Luna suggested. “If you fly out in the open, you’ll likely draw the attention of the Underworld Army.”
“True,” Celestia said, “But we don’t know how many of them are down there. They could be preparing an ambush.”
“Besides, it’s not like they don’t know I’m here,” Rainbow shrugged. But as she soared over the chasm, something caught her eye in the depths below. “Wait, what was that?”
“Do you remember when I said that some souls are eaten?” Celestia said.
“Well here is the hideous devourer of souls himself,” Luna said.
Rainbow noticed something move below her in the chasm, but before she could make out what it was, it was gone. Her eyes shifted from one side of the chasm to the other, her Pandora Claws ready as she looked for any sign of the monster. She checked around the spires that rose from the chasm, but the light of their glow only reached so far into the darkness.
Keep in mind that this is part of the first draft. There will be some editing before the chapter gets posted, so this may look different in the final version, or it may go unchanged. There's some information here, though very little that anyone who's played the game won't already know. For one, we see that Rainbow Dash is taking on the mission herself, with Celestia and Luna talking to her. Considering that the last chapter left Fluttershy with her wings burned to ash and near death, it only stands to reason.
Now while this sneak peek does tell you that the three of them are in the chapter, it doesn't really show much of the dynamic they have with each other. One thing I do like about this chapter (or at least one thing I was looking forward to in writing this) is the kind of interactions these three have with each other, not just one on one, but also all three of them in the same place. Celestia and Luna do have history from the prior chapters, but this will be the first time they've seen or spoken since the Chaos Kin arc started. As usual, Rainbow "Dark Shy" Dash is going to be the wild card in all of this. Recall that she was willing to destroy the Lunar Sanctum herself after her second battle with Fluttershy, in spite of the fact that she was there to defend it, and even though she did work with Luna in the Chaos Vortex, they didn't talk to each other very much (mostly about how annoying/delicious Luna's troops are). After all, everything after the air section of The Chaos Vortex was pretty centered around Rainbow and Fluttershy. In addition, this chapter was also a chance to flesh out/develop Rainbow Dash and Celestia more, an effort that was bogged down by how much angst this chapter has. I don't think I'm good at writing angst (you all know what I think about Celestia's Temple).
I've also revealed the weapon that Rainbow Dash takes with her, the Pandora Claws, as well as some mention of a City of Souls and a soul-devouring monster. And yet Fluttershy and Rainbow just battled a soul-devouring monster in the last chapter.
So look forward to the next chapter of Filly Fluttershy: Uprising... eventually. It will be out in a month or two, and if not, I can at least promise a progress report. I'm actually hoping for a pretty epic boss battle, so who knows, writing out this part might come a bit easier.
Take all the time you need, real life comes first, and I'd rather wait for a quality chapter. Above all though, make sure YOU'RE happy with it.
I feel a strong sense of déjà vu here... oh right, I believe this sentence has been at the end of almost every blog post I've made in the last three years! Albeit worded slightly differently, but still.
This is your masterwork! Just... take your time with it. I get why you'd want to offer an update on its progress, but I doubt anyone that is a fan of your series wouldn't offer the same patient sentiment.
... and then they all started kissing. Mwuh mwuh mwuh! Yeah. Perfect!